Housing

TheHomesWeNeed250Scotland faces a massive crisis in the availability, the cost and the quality of our housing. There were more than 150,000 people on local authority housing waiting lists across Scotland in 2015, a level over 30% higher than in 2004. Yet the social housing stock has declined.

Shelter has estimated that we need to build at least 12,000 affordable houses each year to meet current and future need.
UNISON Scotland believes that housing has been left to the market for too long. The market has failed to deliver. The private owned and private rented sectors cannot address the shortage.

This housing crisis requires a massive programme of social housing investment from the public sector. In our policy paper Making Homes for a Fairer Scotland we outlined a new housing programme for Scotland and we have showed how this could be funded, using some of the assets represented by public sector pension funds in our document Funding and Building the Homes Scotland Needs.

Latest news

First Minister must intervene in Bield Housing decision to close 12 care homes

Bield Housing and Care, announced yesterday (11 October) that they intend to close 12 care homes in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, ... Read More

‘ICT should focus on providing better services not cuts’ says UNISON report

Date: Monday 30 November 2015 A UNISON Scotland report Disconnected, published today, 30 November 2015, claims that ICT services should ... Read More

Community led public services can transform inequalities, says report

Date: Thursday 22 October 2015 UNISON Labour Link Media Release - Launch of Commission on Health Inequalities report will take place at 22 ... Read More

More Housing News

Latest documents

A New Deal for Tenants

thumbnail of Final UNISON New Deal for Tenants April 2022
This is UNISON's response to the proposed reform of the private rented sector. High private rents and house prices are ...
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National Public Energy Agency

thumbnail of UNISON Scotland Public Energy Agency Feb 2022
UNISON supports the creation of a new public agency to direct the roll-out of heating decarbonisation and energy efficiency. Strategic ...
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UNISON Week 319 – Social care reform debate, local government pay ballot, housing and more

thumbnail of UNISON Week 319
UNISON Week 319 - Social care reform debate, local government pay ballot, housing and more. Read full newsletter here ...
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Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill

thumbnail of UNISON Response_Fair Rents Scotland Bill
UNISON fully supports this bill to regulate rents in the private rented sector (PRS). We represent some of the lowest ...
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Report of the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery June 2020

thumbnail of Post Covid Economic Recovery e-brief June 2020
This briefing looks at the recommendations of the independent Advisory Group on Post-Covid 19 Economic Recovery. The Group presented its ...
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UNISON Week 281 – Scottish Govt Budget, Policing , Housing & more

thumbnail of UNISON Week 281
UNISON Week 281 - Scottish Govt Budget, Policing , Housing & more. Read full newsletter here ...
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More on briefings page